Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs and their Businesses doc

Titles in the series include: A General Theory of Entrepreneurship The Individual–Opportunity Nexus Scott Shane Academic Entrepreneurship University Spinoffs and Wealth Creation Scott Sh

their Businesses

Series Editor: Sankaran Venkataraman

Darden Graduate School of Business

Administration, University of Virginia

This important series is designed to make a significant contribution to thedevelopment of Entrepreneurship Studies As this field has expandeddramatically in recent years, the series will provide an invaluable forum for the publication of high-quality works of scholarship and show thediversity of issues and practices around the world

The main emphasis of the series is on the development and application ofnew and original ideas in Entrepreneurship Global in its approach, itincludes some of the best theoretical and empirical work, with contributions

to fundamental principles, rigorous evaluations of existing concepts andcompeting theories, historical surveys and future visions Titles includeoriginal monographs, edited collections and texts

Titles in the series include:

A General Theory of Entrepreneurship

The Individual–Opportunity Nexus

Scott Shane

Academic Entrepreneurship

University Spinoffs and Wealth Creation

Scott Shane

Economic Development Through Entrepreneurship

Government, University and Business Linkages

Edited by Scott Shane

Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs and their Businesses

A Global Research Perspective

Edited by Candida G Brush, Nancy M Carter, Elizabeth J Gatewood, Patricia G Greene and Myra M Hart

Growth-oriented

Women Entrepreneurs and their Businesses

A Global Research Perspective

Harvard Business School, USA

NEW HORIZONS IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Edward Elgar

Cheltenham, UK • Northampton, MA, USA

All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

A catalogue record for this book

is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data

Growth-oriented women entrepreneurs and their businesses: a global research perspective/edited by Candida G Brush … [et al.]

p cm — (New horizons in entrepreneurship)

1 Businesswomen 2 Women-owned business enterprises 3 New business enterprises 4 Entrepreneurship I Brush, Candida G II Series HD6053.G765 2006

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Candida G Brush, Nancy M Carter, Elizabeth J Gatewood,

Patricia G Greene and Myra M Hart

2 Women’s entrepreneurship in Australia: present and

Mary Barrett

3 Women’s entrepreneurship in Canada: progress, puzzles and

Jennifer E Jennings and Michelle Provorny Cash

4 State of the art of women’s entrepreneurship, access to

Helle Neergaard, Kent T Nielsen and John I Kjeldsen

Anne Kovalainen and Pia Arenius

6 Women’s entrepreneurship in Germany: progress in a still

Friederike Welter

7 Women’s entrepreneurship in Norway: recent trends and

Lene Foss and Elisabet Ljunggren

8 Women’s entrepreneurship in the United States 184

Candida G Brush, Nancy M Carter, Elizabeth J Gatewood,

Patricia G Greene and Myra M Hart

WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES

9 Comparing the growth and external funding of male- and

John Watson, Rick Newby and Ann Mahuka

v

10 Builders and leaders: six case studies of men and women

small proprietors in the Bulgarian construction industry 232

Tatiana S Manolova

11 Access to finance for women entrepreneurs in Ireland:

Colette Henry, Kate Johnston and Angela Hamouda

12 Women entrepreneurs in New Zealand: private capital

Anne de Bruin and Susan Flint-Hartle

13 The supply of finance to women-led ventures: the Northern

Claire M Leitch, Frances Hill and Richard T Harrison

14 Female entrepreneurial growth aspirations in Slovenia:

Polona Tominc and Miroslav Rebernik

15 Spain – the gender gap in small firms’ resources and

Cristina Díaz and Juan J Jiménez

16 Gender, entrepreneurship and business finance: investigating

the relationship between banks and entrepreneurs in the UK 373

Sara Carter, Eleanor Shaw, Fiona Wilson and Wing Lam

Contributors

Pia Arenius, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Technology Management at Ecole

des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC), University of Lausanne inSwitzerland Her research interests include entrepreneurship, social capitaland innovation management

Mary Barrett, PhD, is Professor and Director of the Graduate School of

Business and Professional Development, and Sydney Business School, bothlocated within the University of Wollongong, Australia Her research focuses on gender issues in workplace communication; women businessowners; and family business, including the role of women in family business

Candida G Brush, DBA, is Chair of the Entrepreneurship Division at

Babson College, Wellesley, Massachusetts and holder of the President’s Chair

in Entrepreneurship Her research investigates resource acquisition strategies

in emerging organizations, the influence of gender in business start-up andgrowth strategies of women-led ventures

Nancy M Carter, PhD, is the Vice President of Research at Catalyst, in New

York City, NY In this role she leads Catalyst research teams in developinggroundbreaking research and consulting on issues relating to buildinginclusive environments and women’s advancement in the workplace DrCarter also holds the Richard M Schulze Chair in Entrepreneurship at theUniversity of St Thomas, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sara Carter is Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Department of

Manage-ment and Organization, University of Stirling, Scotland Her research interestsinclude gender, rurality and multiple business ownership Her chapter waswritten when she was Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University ofStrathclyde, Scotland

Michelle Provorny Cash is an organizational consultant, editor and

writer based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Her research interests includesocial entrepreneurship, women’s entrepreneurship, micro-finance andcommunity economic development She currently serves as Managing

Editor for Social Enterprise Reporter, a monthly publication about social

enterprise

Anne de Bruin, PhD, is Professor of Economics in the Department of

Commerce, Massey University at Albany, Auckland Her research interestsinclude entrepreneurship, career theory, labour market dynamics, non-standard work and pathways to sustainable employment

Cristina Díaz is a lecturer in the Department of Business Administration at

the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain) Her research interests arerelated to entrepreneurship, in particular with the resource mobilization andoutcomes obtained by female entrepreneurs in comparison with their malecounterparts

Susan Flint-Hartle is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Finance, Banking

and Property, Massey University at Albany, Auckland Her research interestsinclude franchising in the real estate agency sector, entrepreneurship andorganizational learning

Lene Foss, PhD, is Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship and

Organizational Development at the University of Tromsø, Norwegian College

of Fishery Science in Norway She holds an Associate Professor II position atthe Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management at TheNorwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway Herresearch interests include women entrepreneurship and leadership, emergingindustries and entrepreneurial networks

Elizabeth J Gatewood, PhD, is director of the University Office of

Entrepreneurship and Liberal Arts at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem,North Carolina Her research interests include the factors influencing thesuccess of women entrepreneurs, including access to resources for growingventures, and entrepreneurial cognition

Patricia G Greene, PhD, is Dean of the Undergraduate School at Babson

College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, where she holds the President’s Chair inEntrepreneurship Her research interests are the identification, acquisition andcombination of entrepreneurial resources, particularly by women and minorityentrepreneurs

Angela Hamouda, MBS, is a research coordinator with the Centre for

Entrepreneurship Research at Dundalk Institute of Technology, Ireland Herresearch interests include female entrepreneurship, in particular financial andnetworking supports for female entrepreneurs

Richard T Harrison is Dixons Chair of Entrepreneurship and Innovation,

and Director of Research, at University of Edinburgh Management School.His primary research interests include entrepreneurial finance (businessangels, early stage venture capital), entrepreneurial learning and entrepreneur-ship and public policy

Myra M Hart, Professor of Management Practice in Entrepreneurship at

Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts, conducts research onentrepreneurship, venture capital and women business owners Her experience

as a founder of a large-scale public company informs her teaching in MBA,executive education and alumni programmes

Colette Henry, PhD, is Head of Department of Business Studies and Director

of the Centre for Entrepreneurship Research at Dundalk Institute of nology, Ireland Her research interests include entrepreneurship education andtraining – programme design and evaluation; female entrepreneurship andentrepreneurs in the creative industries

Tech-Frances Hill is a senior lecturer in the School of Management and Economics,

Queen’s University Belfast Her research interests include organizationalchange and innovation especially in relation to industry incumbents; thebehavioural and interpersonal dimensions of technology transfer; inter- andintra-organizational learning; the education and training of aspiring/nascententrepreneurs; issues surrounding the financing of new and growing businessventures; social entrepreneurship

Jennifer E Jennings, PhD (formerly Jennifer Cliff), is an Assistant Professor

in the Department of Strategic Management and Organization at the sity of Alberta Her research interests include the differential experiences andoutcomes of male and female entrepreneurs, the determinants andconsequences of imitative versus innovative entrepreneurship, and issues atthe nexus of entrepreneurship and family

Univer-Juan J Jiménez, PhD, is Academic Director of the Vicerrectorate of Albacete

and Entrepreneurial Projects at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)where he holds a Chair in Business Administration His research interests areentrepreneurship, SMEs and the promotion of an entrepreneurial culture

Kate Johnston, PhD, is a Senior Researcher with the Centre for

Entrepreneurship Research at Dundalk Institute of Technology, Ireland Herresearch interests include entrepreneurship growth and funding strategies,applied financial economics and corporate governance

John I Kjeldsen holds an MSc in Economics and Business Administration

and a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and Marketing He isAssociate Professor at the Department of Marketing, Informatics andStatistics, Director of Study (Open University) and coordinator of the Diploma

in Business Administration and Marketing at the Aarhus School of Business,Denmark His research areas include Industrial Marketing Management,Buyer Initiative, Purchasing and Strategic Supplier Development, Entre-preneurship and Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Anne Kovalainen, PhD, is Professor of Entrepreneurship at two Finnish

Universities, at the Department of Management and Organization, TurkuSchool of Economics and Business Administration, Turku, Finland and

at the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsinki,Finland Her research interests range from entrepreneurship theory and economic sociology including non-standard work, self-employment,entrepreneurship and labour market restructuring to feminist theory andresearch methodology in social sciences

Wing Lam, PhD, is Research Fellow in the School of Business and

Management at the University of Glasgow, UK Her research interests includenew venture creation, family business, Chinese entrepreneurship, network andcross-cultural entrepreneurship

Claire M Leitch is a Senior Lecturer at Queen’s University, Belfast Her

research interests include the company development process in the learningcompany; the application of action learning and other client-centred learningapproaches, within entrepreneurial education; the dynamics of leadership inthe process of organizational transformation; entrepreneurial learning,business development; and the technology transfer process

Elisabet Ljunggren, PhD, is senior researcher and research manager at

Nordland Research Institute, Bodø, Norway Her research interests includegender aspects of entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurial process, the householddimensions in entrepreneurship and policy initiatives to enhance entrepreneur-ship and innovation

Ann Mahuka is a Master of Finance student in Accounting and Finance at

The University of Western Australia

Tatiana S Manolova is Assistant Professor of Management at Bentley

University, Boston, MA Her current research interests include competitivestrategies for new and small companies, international entrepreneur-ship and organizational formation and transformation in transitionaleconomies

Helle Neergaard, MSc, PhD, currently holds an Associate Professorship in

Entrepreneurship at the Department of Management and InternationalBusiness, the Aarhus School of Business, Denmark Her research interestsinclude strategic and managerial aspects of entrepreneurship, femaleentrepreneurs, internationalization as well as qualitative methods

Rick Newby is a Lecturer in Accounting and Finance at The University of

Western Australia His research interests include survey methodology and therelationship between SME owner goals and firm performance

Kent T Nielsen, PhD, is Associate Professor at the Department of Marketing,

Information and Statistics at the Aarhus School of Business, Denmark Hisresearch interests are within e-business, industrial policy and regionaldevelopment, networking, internationalization of small and medium-sizedenterprises and entrepreneurship

Miroslav Rebernik, PhD, is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Business

Economics at the University of Maribor, Slovenia He holds theEntrepreneurship and Business Economics Chair, and is a Director of theInstitute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management at the Faculty

of Economics and Business He is leading research teams for the SlovenianEntrepreneurship Observatory and for GEM Slovenia

Eleanor Shaw, PhD, is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Marketing at

Strathclyde Business School Her research interests include the diversity ofentrepreneurship, entrepreneurship under difficult conditions and therelationship between networks and small business development

Polona Tominc, PhD, is an Associated Professor in the Department of

Quantitative Economic Analysis at the Faculty of Economics and Business,University of Maribor, Slovenia Her research is focused on statisticalmethods in economics, especially in the field of entrepreneurship and genderdifferences

John Watson, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Accounting and Finance at

The University of Western Australia His research interests include SMEperformance, measurement and evaluation

Friederike Welter is Professor for Management of SMEs and

entrepreneur-ship at the University of Siegen, Germany, and holds the TeliaSoneraProfessorship for Entrepreneurship at the Stockholm School of Economics,Riga Her research interests include entrepreneurship processes in variousenvironments and media discourse about entrepreneurship

Fiona Wilson is Professor of Organizational Behaviour in the School of

Business and Management at the University of Glasgow in Scotland She iscurrently researching banks’ views on male and female business owners andtheir views on banks with Sara Carter, Eleanor Shaw and Wing Lam Theresearch is funded by the ESRC Her research is mainly on gender relations atwork

Country Reports on Women’s Entrepreneurship

1 Introduction: the Diana Project

International

Candida G Brush, Nancy M Carter,

Elizabeth J Gatewood, Patricia G Greene and Myra M Hart

The Diana Project, named for the mythological goddess of the hunt, began as

a US-based multi-university, multi-year project dedicated to the study ofwomen business owners and their business growth activities The project hasgrown to include more than 30 researchers from 20 countries This chapteraddresses the fundamental issues raised by a collaboration of scholars fromaround the world

INTRODUCTION

Small firms drive economic growth Research in the OECD countriesconsistently shows that job growth in the entrepreneurial sector is substantiallyhigher than it is among established (corporate) incumbents (Audretsch andThurik, 2001) More recently, the international buzz about entrepreneurshiphas become even more pronounced with the explosion of new technology, rise

in the availability and use of equity capital and breaking down of economicand trade barriers The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) studies findthat entrepreneurship is a central source for employment creation (Reynolds etal., 2001; Acs et al., 2005)

Collectively these studies reveal that location matters The ways that peoplestart and grow businesses vary substantially by country, depending on level ofeconomic development, cultural factors, natural resources and industrial base

In developed countries, entrepreneurial ventures produce innovations andcreate wealth, as well as enhance economic development in challenginggeographic or industrial sectors (Acs et al., 2005) In transitional economiesentrepreneurship drives privatization by building market institutions, influen-cing monetary and fiscal policy, and affecting macroeconomic stabilizationand growth Economic development supporting new venture creation is an

3

attractive public policy in most countries, but, as new firms are created inincreasing numbers, policy emphasis turns to fostering growth of existingbusinesses Regardless of location or country context, the increased attention

to economic contributions of entrepreneurship, and, in particular, growingbusinesses, is reflected in the accelerated pace and variety of public andprivate sector policy initiatives at all levels – local, regional, national andsuper-national level (Hart, 2003)

How do women participate in this phenomenon? Recent statistics show thatwomen are important drivers of growth in many of the world’s economies(Minniti et al., 2005) However, while statistics recording small firm andentrepreneurship activity are available for many countries, there is far lessdocumentation about the contributions women make to the process,particularly in non-OECD countries (Minetti et al., 2005) Further, almost

no information is available about women’s entrepreneurship as a globalphenomenon, specifically, growth-oriented women-led businesses (Brush etal., 2005) Available information generally aggregates and studies all busi-nesses together, without highlighting the sex of the founder or the businesssector (Gatewood et al., 2003) Consequently, while entrepreneurship isviewed as a solution to economic development, we have little understanding

of the gendered influences on the experience and subsequent contributions.This raises two important questions: Are the experiences similar or differentfor men and women? What country, venture and personal factors influence thegrowth experiences of women-led businesses?

Emerging research suggests that there are significant differences, especiallywith regards to the pathway to growth (Brush et al., 2004) Similarly, the GEM studies show variation across countries between men and women inmotivations and business sector (Minetti et al., 2005) With increasingnumbers of women starting new businesses worldwide, it is crucial to answerthese questions to gain a better understanding of how to promote women’sentrepreneurship, eliminate obstacles women may face in business creation,and facilitate the growth process of their businesses A lack of understanding

of the growth of women-owned businesses might ultimately inhibitcompetitiveness if a country does not understand, recognize and supportcontributions of all populations of entrepreneurs

THE DIANA PROJECT

Since the mid-1980s, most research on women’s entrepreneurship focused onfactors influencing the start-up of ventures (Gatewood et al., 2003) Notablyabsent was an understanding of factors affecting growth In 1999, we launchedthe Diana Project to study the phenomenon of women’s entrepreneurship in

the United States Historically, women-led ventures were smaller than those oftheir male counterparts, whether measured by size of revenues generated orthe number of people employed The overarching question was: Why dowomen-owned businesses remain smaller than those of their male counter-parts? A multi-method research effort was undertaken to examine supply ofand demand for growth capital relative to women entrepreneurs Our USresearch showed that women entrepreneurs seldom acquire sufficient funds togrow their businesses aggressively and to reach their full potential This raised

a new question: Do women face unique challenges in acquiring growth

capital?

While the collective research documents demand by women entrepreneursfor equity capital, there was and still is a mismatch between the women, theirventures and sources of growth funding (Brush et al., 2001; Brush et al.,2004a) The Diana Project findings prompted great interest among the media,policy-makers, practitioners and educators wanting to learn more about ways

to increase women entrepreneurs’ receipt of growth capital by providing abetter infrastructure of programs and curricula for women who wished to growlarger businesses (see for instance: Hart, 2003; Montandon, 2002; Hoover,

2002 and Henry, 2002) All these audiences shared the objective of facilitatingthe growth of new businesses that could produce innovation and wealth for the benefit of individual entrepreneurs, their families and, ultimately, theircommunities

Simultaneous to the Diana Project research, interest in women neurs and growth of their ventures was rising in most countries around theworld To capture and leverage that interest, the Diana Project team, inpartnership with ESBRI (Entrepreneurship and Small Business ResearchInstitute, Sweden), convened an international gathering of scholars in 2003 todevelop a shared research agenda (see Appendix 1.A for a listing ofparticipants by country in 2003–04) The goal was to exchange ideas and learnfrom each other about the current state of research on creation and support fornew women-led businesses, and particularly, support and development ofgrowth-oriented businesses Our purpose in creating the Diana Internationalcollaborative was twofold: 1) to provide a platform from which to develop,conduct and share a global research agenda; 2) to create an internationalcommunity of scholars dedicated to answering the questions about womenentrepreneurs and their growth-oriented businesses

entrepre-The first step in this collaborative effort was to document the status ofwomen entrepreneurs and business growth in the home countries of each ofthe initial participants to identify where further research would be needed.Even a cursory search of existing secondary data by the participants quicklyrevealed that little systematic comparative data were available Data fromILO, GEM and OECD as presented in Table 1.1 emphasize the disparity

between men and women in self-employment and are useful for pinpointingrates of entrepreneurial activity and macro-environmental influences Forexample, one of the GEM measures, TEA (total entrepreneurial activity),shows the number of people per 100 who are engaged in starting a business orwho are owners/managers of a business less than 42 months old (Zacharakis

et al., 2001) From their examination of start-up activity in 41 countries during

2003, GEM researchers found that men were almost twice as likely to beinvolved with a new business start-up as women (total entrepreneurial activity

of women = 7.005; for men = 12.314 per 100) and that the rate differentialvaried across countries substantially (Minnetti and Byrave, 2003) Countriesparticipating in both Diana International and GEM illustrate this point, withthe TEA for women ranging from 2.79 (Sweden) to 12.02 (New Zealand)(Minnetti and Byrave, 2003)

Table 1.1 Statistics on women and business ownership

Percent of Percent of

While these statistics provided a foundation for our project, they were toogeneralized to permit a focus on growth activities of women-led businesses.Similarly, other secondary data provided only tangential informationregarding growth-oriented women-led ventures Statistics from around theworld show size differences between men-led and women-led ventureindicating that businesses led by women are universally smaller than those ofmen whether measured in terms of revenues generated or employees hired.Examples from countries participating in Diana International illustrate thispoint In Norway, only 20 percent of women-led businesses (compared with

31 percent of men-owned business) have one or more employees, andbusinesses owned by men show stronger financial results In the Netherlands,about 30 percent of entrepreneurs are female (approximately 250 000 femaleentrepreneurs), but their profile and that of their businesses are quite differentfrom those of male entrepreneurs In Canada, approximately 45 percent ofSMEs have at least some degree of female ownership, but they are smaller insize by number of employees and average annual sales (approximately halfwere majority male-owned SMEs), and are younger and less likely to be in fastgrowth stage of business development (9 percent of majority female-ownedversus 14 percent of majority male-owned)

The product of our first Diana International Conference in 2003 was areport discussing the importance of growth-oriented women-led businessesand summarizing the state of knowledge about these businesses in the initial countries involved This report was released in spring of 2005 andprovides a summary of the presentations about the state of women’sentrepreneurship by country For the second conference in 2004, participantspresented working papers Following the event, papers were peer reviewed,revised and finally submitted for consideration for this edited volume Thisbook is the product of our second Diana International Conference, whichrepresents the hard work and dedication of an expanded community ofscholars passionate about understanding growth of women’s entrepreneurship.The next section presents the framework that organizes the chapters in thisvolume

FACTORS INFLUENCING GROWTH OF

resources that represent the factors influencing growth of individual led ventures (see Figure 1.1) These factors are contained in an industry sectorand country context, within which supply of financial resources also resides.Following is a brief description of each of these concepts

women-Figure 1.1 Research framework for women and growth businesses

Individual

All entrepreneurs start with a set of personal aptitudes, then add skills learnedthrough formal education and on-the-job experience This combination ofnatural talent and learned skills comprises ‘human capital’ (Becker, 1964).Each entrepreneur, whether they are starting alone or with a partner, has aunique bundle of human capital (Carter et al., 1997) Some bring years ofcollege education and advanced professional degrees to their ventures, whileothers gain their knowledge through industry experience Still others gainvaluable expertise through specialized training The package of capabilitiesthat the entrepreneur or her team brings to the table is the foundation of thenew venture (Brush, Greene and Hart, 2001) These capabilities are broad-ranging, from functional expertise in marketing, accounting or operations, toabilities in fund-raising, people management or negotiation, and they all make

Growth

Sector

a difference in whether and how the business will grow (Hisrich and Brush,1986; Schefczyk and Gerpott, 2001)

Another aspect of the individual is her personal aspirations and ambitions,which are translated into the vision of success for the business venture(Penrose, 1954; Bhide, 2000) Personal motivations for starting a businessvary widely For instance, some women entrepreneurs start a business becausethey want to meet a need that exists in the marketplace by providing a newservice or product (Hisrich and Brush, 1986) Others become entrepreneursbecause they want to work independently, make the decisions and take control

of their work lives (Buttner and Moore, 1997) Still other entrepreneurs focus

on creating their own work environment and providing family income Themotives for start-up are directly related to the goals for the business (Lau andBusenitz, 2001) Some women entrepreneurs intend to grow their businessesfrom the start, while others deliberately keep their companies small andmanageable (Cliff, 1998; Du Reitz and Henrekson, 2000)

The Venture Concept

The venture concept is what the business does or the product or service itprovides (Bhide, 2000) It starts from an idea, innovation or problem, which istransformed into a concept that is defined by the activities of the organization.The choice of business concept has a direct effect on potential growth Thosecompanies based on radically innovative ideas that solve a big problem havemuch greater potential for being scalable and attracting growth capital, whileless innovative ideas serving small niche markets that are easily imitated havemuch lower growth potential (Bhide, 2000) The extent to which there is bigdemand for the product or service, and whether or not there are lots ofsubstitutes, directly affect the potential for growth Innovative concepts thatare not easily imitable are more likely to attract growth capital for expansion(Timmons and Bygrave, 1997)

Firm Resources

Firm resources are applied to convert the concept to reality and take the goodsand services to market (Penrose, 1954) Resources fall into several categories:social, financial, organizational, physical and technical (Brush, Greene andHart, 2001) Social capital is a form of non-economic knowledge and emergesfrom norms, relationships and social structures in an individual’s life(Coleman, 1988) This includes the network of contacts, reputation, as well asthe skills and expertise that help entrepreneurs and their teams acquire theresources of the emerging organization (Aldrich, 1999)

Other resources include organizational resources, which are those ships, structure, routines and information of the new venture (Dollinger,

relation-1995) Physical resources include tangible and intangible assets needed for theoperations of the business (Dollinger, 1995) These also may includetechnology and equipment as well as materials and other physical assets of thebusiness Financial resources are the cash and money assets of the business(Bygrave, 1992) Often personal savings of the entrepreneur and team are thefirst financial resources available to the firm

Business Sector

The potential for business growth is also directly influenced by choice ofindustry sector (Carter et al., 1997) Highly competitive mature industries,such as restaurant, retail clothing or personal care services, are easy to enterand therefore easily imitated (Brush et al., 2004) Many women-led firmscompete in saturated, highly competitive industries like consumer retailingand personal services, automatically limiting their growth potential (Brush etal., 2004)

Institutional Financial Resources

As Figure 1.1 reflects, institutional financial resources are outside the venture.These are the composite of external sources of venture financing, both debtand equity Sources of growth capital include equity providers (angels, venturecapitalists) and debt providers (banks, and other commercial lenders) (Masonand Harrison, 1999; Timmons and Bygrave, 1997) In the past, women mostoften sought debt financing (Riding and Swift, 1990; Coleman, 2000) butrecent studies show that growth-oriented women-led firms pursue privateequity as well (Brush et al., 2000)

This framework provides a basis for the chapters that follow, which are oftwo types First, a series of country reports provides an overview of the state

of women’s entrepreneurship in seven different countries These includecountry labor force overviews that detail women’s participation in theworkforce and specifically in entrepreneurship Second, other chapters explorethe extent and nature of women’s participation in entrepreneurship and theirgrowth orientation relative to demand for resources to grow (social capital,personal goals, strategic choice and financing) Each chapter concludes with adiscussion of sources of growth financing, issues and opportunities

COUNTRY REPORTS ON WOMEN’S

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

We begin with the country reports from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland,Germany, Norway and the US

Mary Barrett presents a detailed overview of the state of women’sentrepreneurship in Australia She notes that women’s participation inentrepreneurship is comparatively high at 33 percent, and women’s totalentrepreneurial activity (TEA) based on the GEM reports shows that their rate

is increasing Yet, women are less likely to be employers of other people eventhough they contribute nearly 40 percent of GDP (excluding generalgovernment) in Australia and about 20 percent of private sector net jobcreation Barrett argues that even though the growth and contributions ofwomen-owned business in Australia are significant, women are less likely tobecome entrepreneurs than their male counterparts because of socio-culturalnorms, occupational segregation and migration patterns Considering issues ofimportance for women, Barrett concludes that financial capital access,networks and strategic choice are challenges for women seeking to growventures, and offers research directions for the future

Jennifer Jennings and Michelle Provorny Cash present a comprehensiveoverview of women’s participation in entrepreneurship in Canada Womenentrepreneurs account for a sizeable proportion of Canada’s totalentrepreneurial activity and small business sector, but do not yet participate atthe same rate as men In terms of GEM’s measure of nascent entrepreneurialactivity, for example, the prevalence rate for women was only 3.7 percent in

2002, less than half the 9.7 rate for men in the same year Jennings and Cashnote that the growth and prevalence of women entrepreneurs is recognized byresearchers and they present an overview of the relative performance ofwomen-owned businesses and their growth orientation They point out that thesmaller size and slower growth rates of female-owned business in Canadamay, to a certain extent, represent deliberate choices of many womenentrepreneurs, but empirical substantiation of this causal inference does notyet exist The authors present a detailed discussion of human and social capitalfactors, noting that industry context plays an important role in consideringdifferences by gender Motivations, goals and lower amounts of financialcapital are also seen as factors influencing growth of women entrepreneurs inthe Canadian context They conclude this chapter with an exploration ofstrategic choice and access to financing, suggesting subtle perceptions may be

a barrier to explore in the future

A profile of the participation, growth and challenges of womenentrepreneurs in Denmark is provided by Helle Neergaard, Kent Nielsen andJohn Kjeldsen They show that Danish women have been actively involved inthe labor market since the beginning of the 1960s at steadily increasing rates.Today, women constitute 47 percent of total employment This developmenthas been facilitated, in part, through liberal childcare facilities and statesupport of maternity leave Though actively engaged in work outside thehome, relatively few Danish women chose to become entrepreneurs Only 30

percent of new enterprises are established by women and women account for

a mere 25 percent of all self-employed Neergaard points out that venturesowned by women in Denmark exhibit different growth patterns than thoseowned by men Current research provides little information as to the causes ofthese patterns but there are indications that certain mechanisms such as socio-cultural norms and structures, as well as identity and role perceptions, mayunderlie the low rate of female entrepreneurship in Denmark

Anne Kovalainen and Pia Arenius present women’s participation andcontributions to the Finnish economy Using GEM data and labor forcestatistics, they find that approximately 33 percent of all self-employed arewomen and that their share has remained somewhat stable over past years.Despite public policy programs for day-care, a strong culture of work ethicand a tradition of gender equality, they find the share of women’sentrepreneurship has declined over the past decade Kovalainen and Areniusexplore this issue by examining studies on access to start-up capital andgrowth intentions of women entrepreneurs Finland does not offer specialprograms for women, and studies about access to venture capital and angelinvestors are scarce Research shows that women on average earn less thanmen, and therefore it takes longer for them to accumulate start-up funding for

a business Social capital and social networking are essential to success ofwomen-owned businesses, and women entrepreneurs overall are welleducated There is evidence of a glass ceiling in the corporate setting, whichthe authors suggest might contribute to entrepreneurial start-up Of the Nordiccountries, especially in Finland, the positive expectations of the family’sfuture financial situation increase women’s participation in new firmformation The authors explore sectoral differences, finding that occupationalsegregation influences choice of women’s businesses The chapter concludeswith discussion of education, perceived barriers and role models as influences

to women’s entrepreneurship in Finland

The chapter on Germany, authored by Friederike Welter, presents a ranging overview of the state of women’s entrepreneurship Welter documentsthat women account for approximately 28.5 percent of the East and WestGerman labor force and that the percentage of women’s entrepreneurship isgrowing Overall, the 1990s saw an above average increase for women start-ups, but, the gender gap remains Women tend to be clustered in services andretailing and compared with men, are less likely to have employees Drawingfrom GEM data, Welter shows that the sector and size are related to lowerturnover, profitability and growth She explores the extent to which womenmay be ‘dreamers’ and ‘doers’ and considers factors that push and pull theminto entrepreneurship Importantly, family life and children are a factor in thisdecision German women entrepreneurs with more education are more likely

wide-to be growth-oriented Bank financing is most common for growth capital in

Germany, but little research explores gender differences In a detaileddiscussion of financing programs Welter notes that the few studies ofwomen’s access to credit programs in Germany show women are less likely toapply for credit and those few who do, seek smaller amounts Social networks

of German women entrepreneurs tend to be both homogeneous andheterogeneous, but the extent to which these affect the likelihood of receivingcapital is not well understood The chapter concludes with an overview of thepolitical and social context showing gender equality as essential in Germany,but nevertheless subject to subtle barriers rooted in traditional social roles andperceptions about women

Lene Foss and Elisabet Ljunggren review women’s labor force participation

in Norway including women’s rate of entrepreneurial activity More than 37percent of women work in the private sector, more than 66 percent work in thepublic sector, and their entrepreneurial rate is about 27 percent Womenentrepreneurs tend to be slightly older (30–40 years old), are well educatedand experienced, but their businesses are typically smaller and they have lowergrowth aspirations than their male counterparts The authors describe researchfindings showing women’s growth aspirations in Norway related tomotivation, education, industry and a number of organizational variablesincluding previous growth in turnover and in the number of employees But,another study they profile shows education as positively related to growthaspirations, while experience is not Foss and Ljunggren find that research onwomen’s access to financial capital is limited, while studies of women’snetworks are prevalent, and indicate that Norwegian women tend to includemore family/kin and social contacts in their network Women’s goals inentrepreneurship are shown to be more opportunity- than necessity-oriented,and gender segregation by industry of women-owned firms is related to lowerlevels of investment by private investors and venture capitalists While theventure capital industry and government programs are developing rapidly inNorway, the authors suggest that these are gender biased They conclude with

an overview of the challenges and suggestions for future changes as theserelate to gendered-segregated labor market and education systems

Candida Brush, Nancy Carter, Elizabeth Gatewood, Patricia Greene andMyra Hart profile the state of women business owners in the United Stateseconomy Overall, the rate of women’s entrepreneurship in the US is strongand the historical gap between men’s and women’s participation has narrowed

to no longer being significantly different Approximately 10.6 millionprivately-held majority-owned firms are women-led, and these employ 19.1million people and contribute more than $2.46 trillion to the US economy.Nevertheless, a size differential between US men- and women-ownedbusinesses continues Women-owned businesses are, on average, still smallerthan those owned by men, representing only 9 percent of all revenues for US

businesses Research shows that the size differential may be related to workand industry experience, women’s social networks, especially as related totheir ability to access financial resources, their financial reserves and strategiesfor funding their businesses, their choice of industry, and their reasons forstarting businesses US women frequently become business owners because itprovides a way to balance career and family needs The authors conclude thatthe number of women with higher aspirations is increasing But for thesewomen, institutional and cultural barriers provide challenges to successfulgrowth Specifically, education for women on the role of financing, andencouragement of financial providers to seek out and consider women-ownedfirms as investments is suggested.

RESEARCH TOPICS ON THE GROWTH OF

WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES

Seven chapters from Australia, Bulgaria, Ireland, New Zealand, NorthernIreland, Slovenia, Spain and the UK offer focused empirical discussions offactors influencing growth of women-owned businesses These chapters delvemore deeply into relationships between social and human capital, access tofinancing, issues of risk and control, differences in skills and motivations ofwomen, and subtle perceptions of bankers who make financing decisionsabout women-led ventures

John Watson, Rick Newby and Ann Mahuka offer an analysis of side issues related to external funding in Australian small businesses Using afocus group methodology, they study the extent to which male and femaleowners are more risk-averse and therefore less inclined to use bank financing.This research finds that overall, risk is related to control of the businesses andthat most prefer not to consider external funding if they risk losing control oftheir venture Comparisons between men and women show that women aremore risk-averse and less likely to access bank financing However, whenwomen access bank financing, they are inclined to repay it earlier than theirmale counterparts

demand-Tatiana Manolova presents an exploratory look at similarities anddifferences between men and women entrepreneurs in Bulgaria This chapterexamines the effects of human, social and financial capital on start-up andgrowth in the context of a non-traditional industry in a transitional economy.She posits that there are gender-based differences across human, social andfinancial capital that constrains growth Using six case studies of male- andfemale-owned businesses in the Bulgarian construction industry, she finds thatwomen are equally if not better educated than their male counterparts, and thatfinancing is restricted for both groups But, men do have more developed

social networks that give them an advantage especially during start-up of theirventures.

Research in the Republic of Ireland reflects relatively lower femaleentrepreneurship for women than men compared with other developedcountries, and therefore, women’s entrepreneurship is considered a ‘lostresource’ Reasons for this lower participation primarily focus on financialconstraints Colette Henry, Kate Johnston and Angela Hamouda investigatethe role of banks, support agencies and venture capitalists in funding thedevelopment and growth of women’s businesses in Ireland They focus onsupply-side issues, exploring the factors funding agencies look for in smallbusinesses, and investigate the extent to which women are successful atobtaining financing or encounter barriers The information technology (IT),pharmaceutical/medical and biotechnology sectors are the top three sectorsmost likely to attract VC funding in Ireland Just over a third of the VCssurveyed identified the IT sector as the one in which they would ‘most likelyinvest’ In contrast, the banks and support agencies are active across a range

of sectors Factors influencing likelihood of receiving funding include realism

of financial projections, market knowledge, growth plans and experience.Women receive a small proportion of financing, which Henry, Johnston andHamouda find to be caused by a limited capital pool, the sector of business andthe nature of the ventures founded by women

Anne de Bruin and Susan Flint-Hartle present findings of an in-depth study

of the demand and supply of private capital for New Zealand womenentrepreneurs Their research explores the experiences of ‘successful’ womenentrepreneurs, that is, those whose businesses had moved beyond the initiationphase and were commercially viable Because the industry is somewhatundeveloped in New Zealand and research is sparse, the authors chose in-depth interviews using a story-telling methodology to explore the experiences

of women in seeking financial capital In addition, a detailed case studyreflects the goals and challenges of a high-achieving woman entrepreneur Tocomplement the demand-side study, de Bruin and Flint-Hartle conducted ashort survey with venture capitalists to explore their investments in women-led businesses For the supply-side, information was gathered mainly throughinterviews of key informants especially from the venture capital industry Asimple e-mail questionnaire supplemented these interviews Forty in-depthinterviews with women entrepreneurs provided the principal material tocomment on the demand for financial capital The research specificallyattempts to inform on finance-related issues of women’s entrepreneurialactivity

Early findings from a study of the supply of finance to women-owned/ledbusinesses in Northern Ireland is presented by Claire Leitch, Frances Hill andRichard Harrison This research is based on semi-structured interviews

conducted with senior representatives from the main banks and venture capitalfirms in the region A number of issues emerging from the research to date arediscussed: specifically, few women business owners in Northern Ireland seekfunding from formal sources for the purposes of setting up and growing abusiness Some possible reasons for this are discussed, and the implicationsfor women’s behaviors are identified.

Growth aspirations of women in Slovenia are explored in the chapter byPolona Tominc and Miroslav Rebernik Considering the importance ofeconomic growth in a transitional economy, they first provide an overview ofthe current state of female entrepreneurship in Slovenia, and show howbusiness opportunities are perceived by male and female entrepreneurs Theyhypothesize that men and women entrepreneurs will differ in theirparticipation, perception of opportunities, capacity (skills) and aspirations forgrowth Using data from the GEM study, they find that formal barriers areminimal and the climate is positive for women, yet there are significantdifferences in participation, involvement and aspirations for growth

Cristina Díaz and Juan Jiménez explore the effects of gender on availability

of resources in young and small firms in Spain Drawing from currentempirical research and theory, they develop a framework that explores theinfluence of human capital, social capital, financial capital and time, on botheconomic performance and perceptions of success The initial sample wasselected from CAMERDATA, consisting of new (between one to eight yearsold), small (with less than 100 employees) and service sector firms, and 112usable responses were used in the analysis The authors use parametric andnon-parametric tests to examine differences by sex Results show that femaleteams are less successful in terms of revenues, however, their owners seem to

be more satisfied in a personal sense than other type of owners Women do notintend to grow their firms to the same extent as men, and they highlight all thereasons for not growing to a greater level than men Díaz and Jiménez find thatfor the male-owned firms, their size, the network size of the owner/s andhis/their level of education, have a significant and positive effect on revenues.For female-owned firms, although not significant, having managerialexperience and having invested their own savings in the firm help to obtainhigher revenues

The chapter by Sara Carter, Eleanor Shaw, Fiona Wilson and Wing Lamextends the investigation of financing of women-owned businesses byexamining the influence of gender in the bank lending process in the UK This chapter adopts a social constructionist perspective, considering theperceptions that are held by male and female entrepreneurs about banks, aswell as the perceptions that are held by male and female bank officers aboutmale and female entrepreneurs The combined effects of these perceptions onthe ability of entrepreneurs to mobilize financial resources are explored The

research presented outlines a comprehensive six-stage methodology thatexamines cognitive images and processes of bank lending officers using focusgroups, interviews and a business plan assessment that replicates the businessplan developed by Fay and Williams (1993) for their analysis of genderdiscrimination among bank lending officers in New Zealand Carter et al findthat banks in the UK seek to make lending decisions in a bureaucratic andgender neutral manner to avoid biased decisions that may be made byindividuals Gender differences were evident with regard to size of firm andlevel of capitalization.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE STATUS OF WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP AROUND THE WORLDEntrepreneurship is a critical tool for economic development around theworld Entrepreneurs seize opportunities to develop and deliver new goodsand services and, in the process, create wealth for individuals, families,communities and countries The chapters in this book show that women play

an integral part in this economic progress across all countries The data andinsights from the Diana Project International reported here emphasize the need

to better understand this important phenomenon At a macro-level, theresearch highlights the challenges women entrepreneurs encounter in launch-ing and growing their businesses, and how their experiences vary from country

to country The findings substantiate an apparent mismatch between thenumber of women-owned firms seeking resources to grow their businessesand the availability of those resources The gap may represent rationaleconomic decision-making or it may represent a significant market failure Atthe micro-level the findings highlight the substantial similarities in themotivations, human capital, social capital and financial resources womenbring to the creation and growth of their firms

Despite the substantial contribution the chapters in this book make toadvancing knowledge about women’s entrepreneurship, there are still manyquestions waiting to be investigated Exploring gender differences requirescomparing subjective experiences just as it draws on objective data aboutrevenues, employees and growth rates There is a need to achieve an evengreater understanding of the entrepreneurial dynamics within and acrossregions Additional conceptual models need to be developed that account forcountry differences and that reflect the extent to which gender perceptionsheld by certain institutions, societal groups, or individuals, affect theentrepreneurial dynamics

Finally, there is a need to determine the most important issues (from boththe research and practical perspectives) for women’s entrepreneurship in order

to set an on-going research agenda These issues are critical not only for theorydevelopment, but also for the development of more compatiblemethodologies The projects described in this book make noteworthy progresstoward this goal

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APPENDIX 1.A: FOUNDING PARTICIPATING

RESEARCHERS AND HOST COUNTRIES

1) Australia

a Mary Barrett, University of Wollongong

b John Watson, The University of Western Australia

c Rick Newby, The University of Western Australia

2) Bulgaria

a Tatiana Manolova, Suffolk University

b Katia Vladimirova, University of National and World Economy3) Canada

a Jennifer Jennings, University of Alberta

b Devereaux Jennings, University of Alberta

c Megan McDougald, University of Alberta

a Pia Arenius, Helsinki University of Technology

b Anne Kovalainen, Turku School of Economics and PublicAdministration

a Collette Henry, Dundalk Institute of Technology

b Kate Johnson, Dundalk Institute of Technology

c Angela Hamouda, Dundalk Institute of Technology

d Alison Hampton, University of Ulster

e Pauric McGowan, University of Ulster

11) Korea

a Bang Jee Chun, Hoseo University

12) Northern Ireland

a Claire Leitch, Queen’s University of Belfast

b Frances Hill, Queen’s University of Belfast

c Richard Harrison, University of Edinburgh

a Elisabet Ljunggren, Nordland Research Institute, Bodø

b Gry Agnete Alsos, Nordland Research Institute, Bodø

c Lene Foss, Norwegian College of Fishery Science, University ofTromsø

16) Slovenia

a Polona Tominc, University of Maribor

b Miroslav Rebernik, University of Maribor

a Eleanor Shaw, University of Strathclyde

b Sara Carter, University of Strathclyde

c Fiona Wilson, University of Glasgow

d Wing Lam, University of Strathclyde

e Rebecca Harding, London Business School

f Marc Cowling, The Work Foundation, London, UK

20) United States

a Candida Brush, Babson College

b Nancy Carter, University of St Thomas

c Elizabeth Gatewood, Wake Forest University

d Patricia Greene, Babson College

e Myra Hart, Harvard Business School

This chapter provides an overview of the statistics on women’s representation

in the Australian workforce and as business owners, and of the indicators oftheir current and likely future status as entrepreneurs It explores theAustralian research on what these statistics show about how women and theirbusinesses differ from their male counterparts, especially in terms of businesssize, motivation for entrepreneurship, access to start-up and growth finance,training and assistance, strategic choices about industry location of women-owned businesses, issues for special groups of entrepreneurs includingindigenous people and people of non-English-speaking background, and otherissues The chapter hazards some answers to the many questions that thisresearch provokes about the nature and future of women’s entrepreneurshipthrough a brief examination of some historical and cultural factors inAustralia, and suggests some directions for future research to close the gaps inour knowledge of the nature, needs and future of Australian womenentrepreneurs

In December 2003, the estimated resident population of Australia was

19 997 800, of which 80 percent were aged 15 years or more (AustralianBureau of Statistics, 2003a) Figure 2.1 below indicates the proportions of thepopulation by sex and by age groups, showing the changes from 1983 to 2003.From this figure, one can estimate that the percentage of women and men 15years or more is 90.15 and 89.7 respectively

Number of Women and Men in the Workforce

Figure 2.2 shows the distribution of full-time and total employment for men

and women and Figure 2.3 shows the number of men and women inemployment Taken together they indicate that 9.8 million people in Australiawere employed either full-time or part-time in May 2004 Of these, 5.4 million(or just over 55 percent) were men and 4.4 million (or just under 45 percent)were women This represents a participation rate of 71.9 percent for men and55.9 percent for women

These statistics show that Australia, like other Western countries sinceWorld War II, has a high percentage of women in the paid workforce.Increasingly, however, women are moving into business ownership fromcorporate ranks, as later sections will show

Number of Business Owners

The Australian Bureau of Statistics, in its official data on the characteristics ofsmall business in Australia, points out that there is no standard definition of a

%Age group(years)Males

85+

80–8475–7970–7465–6960–6455–5950–5445–4940–4435–3930–3425–2920–2415–1910–145–90–40123

4

20031983

Females

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), (2003b).

Figure 2.1 Population of Australia by age and sex – 1983 and 2003

May2000

May1998

May2002

May2000

May1998

Source: Labour Force Survey Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2004a).

Figure 2.2 Full-time and total employment in Australia

Source: Labour Force Survey Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2004a).

Figure 2.3 Males and females in employment in Australia

small business operator and that there are no official statistics about smallbusiness operators as a group (ABS, 2003c) Thus it is impossible to determinethe number of small business operators compared with operators of largerbusinesses, but the number of small businesses is thought to be very high, asmuch as 97 percent according to some estimates Despite the lack of a formaldefinition, the expression ‘small business operator’ is one that is often used inresearch and policy debate in Australia and is generally taken to mean theperson or persons who own and run the business The ABS further points out

in the same document that these business operators can be identified as:

● the proprietor of a sole proprietorship;

● the partners of a partnership;

● the working director(s) of an incorporated company

In June 2003 there were an estimated 1 591 500 business operators of theestimated 1 179 300 small businesses in Australia Of these, 1 063 000 (67percent) were male and 528 600 (33 percent) were female at June 2003 (seeFigure 2.4 below)

These statistics become more meaningful when they are considered in thecontext of Australian entrepreneurship as part of the world scene As the nextsection points out, Australia currently ranks a respectable rather than aspectacular eighth in the world in terms of its total entrepreneurial activity

Males

Females

% of total

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2004b), Catalogue 8127.0.

Figure 2.4 Proportion of small business operators by sex at June 2003

(TEA) participation rate (The TEA is an index of entrepreneurial activityformed from a national survey of GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor)participating countries It consists of two main elements: a measure ofparticipation in genuine start-ups and a measure of participation in youngfirms.) Australia’s increased rating is no doubt partly the result of a range ofnational policies and programs to encourage entrepreneurship, such asprograms to support export development and the development of intellectualproperty protection (GEM Australia, 2003, p 24).

Total Australian Entrepreneurial Activity Rates

Data on Australia’s total entrepreneurial activity (TEA) participation rate isavailable commencing from 2000, the year in which Australia joined theGlobal Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) In 2003 Australia’s TEAparticipation rate recovered from a low of 8.7 percent to 11.6 percent, and itsrank improved from 15th to eighth among the countries participating This isstill not as high as it has been in the past, however, as Australia’s TEA of 16.2percent in 2001 makes clear (GEM Australia, 2003, p.1)

Total Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rates in Australia

Female participation in entrepreneurial activity in Australia rose sharply from5.6 percent to 9.6 percent in 2003, which is not far below the 2001 high of 10.6percent (GEM Australia, 2003, p 6) The proportion of female entrepreneurs

to male entrepreneurs rose from 48 percent to 71 percent, which is the highestproportion in the four years of Australia’s participation in the GEM (GEMAustralia, 2003, p 6)

These statistics, especially considered together, show a growing rate ofparticipation by both Australian women and men in entrepreneurship But theprofile of women’s and men’s entrepreneurship in Australia shows manycontrasts beyond this initial similarity The next section examines this profilemore closely, and links it to the research that seeks to explain the genderdifferences it reveals

IN AUSTRALIA

Extent and Nature of Women’s Entrepreneurship in Australia

Definitional issues

Australian researchers into women’s entrepreneurship use varying definitions

of this term As noted earlier, the official statistics do not distinguish between

small and larger businesses and this is echoed by the fact that researchers andpolicy-makers do not distinguish between general business ownership and theownership of growth-oriented firms The size of women-owned firms oftendoes not feature at all in much academic or public policy-oriented research Aswell as this, the Australian definitions of large, medium, small and micro-firms differ from those used in the US, making comparisons with overseasfindings about women entrepreneurship problematic

Similar gaps are apparent in studies that include data on the form of owned businesses Businesses in Australia are mostly small, with bothpredominantly male-operated businesses (59 percent) and predominantlyfemale-operated businesses (75 percent) falling into the non-employingcategory (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004b) However, studies frequentlytreat women as if they were the sole owner-manager of the business, and donot indicate whether women are in partnership with others

women-Some researchers, such as Still (1993), attempt to alleviate these researchproblems by including multiple ‘layers’ of definition of women-ownedbusiness For example, Still allows five categories of self-employed women,which vary between size definitions (no employees, up to five employees,fewer than 20 employees) and goal definitions (personal, ‘lifestyle’ goals forbeing in business vs growth aspirations)

Profile

The ABS distinguishes between small businesses operated ‘predominantly’ bymen or by women, and businesses owned by equal numbers of men andwomen In June 2003, of the 1 179 300 small businesses in Australia, 649 600(55 percent) were operated by an individual male or predominantly by males.There were 299 600 businesses (25 percent), operated by equal numbers ofmales and females The number of businesses in this group had declined,down an average annual rate of 3.9 percent, from the 324 600 businessesrecorded in June 2001, reversing the average annual increase of 6.2 percentover the 1999 data However, there were a further 230 200 businesses (20percent) operated predominantly by females, up from 205 900 businesses inJune 2001, an average annual growth of 5.7 percent (Australian Bureau ofStatistics, 2004b)

Roffey et al (1996), in an overview of research into women in smallbusiness, say that women business owners in Australia comprise about one-third of people working in their own business (This is also evident fromFigure 2.4 above.) They are more than twice as likely not to be employers asthey are to employ one or more people However, while this suggests that theircontribution to Australian entrepreneurship is small, women are increasingtheir rate of increase of proprietorship (as a proportion of total businessproprietors) at a faster rate than men This trend has continued since Roffey’s